Morning Break: CDC Says Death Like Politics Is Local; Is the ACP the Conscience of Medicine?

Health news and commentary from around the Web, gathered by the MedPage Today staff.

The ACP is the "conscience" of medicine, which is why it steers away from PC positions, choosing instead to charge directly into issues that often put the 100-year old college ahead of other organizations in medicine, writes Bob Doherty in his ACP Advocate blog. A few examples from Doherty: support of civil marriage for same sex couples and universal background checks for gun purchasers.

If you live in Hawaii, a water-related accident is a not-unlikely cause of death but in Texas tuberculosis may be your death warrant. The state-by-state breakdown of "distinctive" causes of death comes from the CDC.

Is this a Don Draper line? "When last night's party threatens to ruin today, those in the know reach for Pedialyte."

David Sackett, MD, the "father of evidence-based medicine," died May 13. As noted in BMJ, "perhaps most appreciated by doctors for repeating his residency in medicine some 20 years after first training because, although a professor in the medical school, he 'wasn't a good enough doctor.'"

Growing concern about a spike in HIV related to IV-drug abuse (the drug of choice often being Opana) may force a congressional rethink of the federal ban on needle-exchange programs (The New York Times).

The woman who led a movement that revolutionized childbirth in the U.S. -- Elizabeth Bing -- is dead at age 100. Bing, often called the "Mother of Lamaze," was the author of a best-selling book, "Six Practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth."

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